


friendly fire

by tousled



Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Dragon Nip Use, F/M, Recreational Drug Use, Weed Fic, rtte, rtte timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22784410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tousled/pseuds/tousled
Summary: Hiccup finds some of Astrid’s dragon nip and that sets a couple of things in motion.
Relationships: Astrid Hofferson/Tuffnut Thorston
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	friendly fire

**Author's Note:**

> me writing this: hnnnnggggggg weed fic :) 
> 
> anywya it’s too hard to write weed fic. Boo. However, I’m right that Astrid is a pot head and tuff has never had it thank you for coming to my final PhD seminar.
> 
> Also FYI some of Astrid’s thinking in this is a little skewed. I just wanted to add this note to remind you that feeling like you’re not good enough without an intoxicant is an issue and you should seek help from a trained professional.

Hiccup bursting into the clubhouse is a common occurrence on The Edge, enough that no one even bothers to look up. He’s panting heavily, but sometimes he gets caught up in inventing new tail fins for days, so he’s not always up to date with his training routine. Whatever the problem is, he’s annoyed enough that he forgot he could just ride Toothless instead of taking the stairs, so Astrid ignores him. Usually, it’s eel slime in his boot or twigs in his oatmeal. From the clearing of his throat everyone else has obviously come to the same conclusion. 

“What’s this?” Hiccup demands and Astrid flicks a glance his way, expecting seeing the chewing tree sap stuff the twins invented a week ago or another broken set of spoons Snotlout didn’t put away before letting Hookfang set fire to the fire pit. It is, in fact, a little bag full of something green and crunchy by the sound of it.

“Have you never seen dragon nip before?” Ruff asks, lazy, laughing. Hiccup discovered dragon nip, so Astrid doubts it, but his personal use probably doesn’t extend beyond bribing dragons. 

“Do you know how irresponsible it is to smoke here?” Hiccup demands. “This was in the stable, getting the dragons high because you want to get high is so irresponsible! What if we need them?” 

“Hey, I didn’t say it was mine.” Ruff frowns, and Astrid _knows_ it isn’t Ruff’s because Astrid stashed a bag behind the saddle polish so she could grab it after finishing her watch of the island later tonight. 

“Oh come off it,” Hiccup says holding the baggy out closer, “the evidence is right here.” 

“Fuck you.” Ruff says, folding her arms in front of her chest. “Everyone’s smoked dragon nip.” 

“I haven’t.” Tuff pipes up. He looks earnestly up at Hiccup, eyes beseeching. Hiccup frowns, mouth turning down. 

“Oh, like I believe that.” Hiccup snipes. Astrid rolls her eyes, opening her mouth to call a stop to it all but her voice is lost in the cacophony. 

“I haven’t!” Tuff whines, insulted and nervous, throwing his hands around like he’s about to wail about Hiccup’s lack of faith and betrayal. 

“Back off, he has asthma!” Ruff snaps, standing up to get between Tuff and Hiccup defensively. 

“Asthma is something you guys made up to get out of heavy labour.” Hiccup snaps back, taking a deep breath to ready himself for another famous Hiccup rant. Astrid doesn’t really know what the asthma thing is, but it’s hardly worth the fight. She slams her knife into the table. 

“Lay off.” Astrid says, cutting across the room before it turns into a full fledged fight. “it’s mine anyway.” 

The whole room turns to look at Astrid in dead silence. Fishlegs isn’t surprised, he grows a patch of dragon nip next to the chives in his herb garden and has been known to get the two of them mixed up. Snotlout’s mouth is hanging open, his cheeks pink since Ruff said everyone’s tried it, because he definitely has gotten high trying to impress boys several times. Ruff looks like she’s changing her opinion of Astrid, thoughtful. Tuff’s eyes are wide, shining like dewdrops and it’s too pretty she has to turn away, looking at Hiccup’s disappointed face. 

“What?” Astrid asks, “I have to deal with all of you right?” 

  
  


****

It might be a week since the whole dragon nip incident but when Tuff turns to her during firewood preparations Astrid knows exactly what he’s going to ask. He’s been giving her looks all week, smiling winsomely, hand linked around her bicep. He should have kept it on the down low, not said anything, or tried looking sweet; now Astrid’s ready for the onslaught. 

“No.” Astrid says. 

“I didn’t even _say_ anything.” Tuff whines. He bats his eyelashes and Astrid rolls her eyes. She prompts him to put another log up for her to split. 

“I don’t really understand what the whole asthma thing is but if you’re gonna _smoke_ dragon nip you’re putting smoke into your lungs and that’s probably bad for your lungs or something.” Astrid says. In all honesty, her no is because she’s scared of Ruffnut and not because she won’t share her dragon nip. Tuff with his fast talking and loose wit is likely a very fun person to get high with. 

“Come on Astrid, we breathe in dragon smoke and fumes all the time.” Tuff wheedles. 

Astrid motions him away to swing her axe down, the chop satisfying. In the end, what is Ruff really going to do? Put eel slime in her boots? Spiders in her sleeping pelts? Snakes in her saddle bag? The twins already do that stuff for fun. 

“I can show you where dragon nip grows, but I’m not being culpable for it.” Astrid offers and Tuff beams. He picks up another log, propping it up on the cutting board as Astrid clears it, looking thoughtful. 

“Actually, I just wanted to know what it’s like.” He adds, moments later; enough firewood chopped up to last for weeks but Astrid hasn’t stopped, enjoying the conversation, even the wheedling. “Like, the dragons love it a lot, and Hiccup’s really mad that anyone would affect them and you and Ruff and sometimes Snotlout, and even Fishlegs like it. I just want to know what’s the point.” He’s earnest, hands wild and Astrid stows her axe so no one’s fingers get 

“It’s like,”Astrid pauses, unsure how to phrase it in a way that’s going to make him beg her to take him to the dragon nip patch now. “Nice.” 

“Nice?” Tuff asks, eyes clear. 

“You know. It’s just _nice._ Everything feels very liquid, very warm, like nothing’s an issue, that everything will be fine.” Astrid shrugs. She looks away, at the pile of kindling they’ve created. At his hum she looks up again, words on the tip of her tongue. 

“Hmm,” Tuff says. He looks like he’s going to add more, questions bubbling up his throat, honest and genuine in a way Astrid doesn’t know how to be unless she’s a blunt to the wind, dragon nip in her lungs, soft. There moment is ruined by Toothless setting down, the frown that’s etched its way onto Hiccup’s brow since the whole dragon nip baggy incident. 

“Tuff, you’re supposed to be helping Ruff with the western tower not ignoring the wood chopping chore that was supposed to be finished an hour ago.” Hiccup snaps, hand out to help Tuff up onto Toothless. Tuff ignores it to say hello to Toothless. 

“We prepared enough kindling for the entire winter if need be.” Astrid replies, easy, smooth. Hiccup’s frown doesn’t lessen like it would have before. 

“Ruff _definitely_ needs my help though!” Tuff adds, unbothered, dragon nip conversation forgotten. He takes Hiccup’s hand and Hiccup urges Toothless up without a second glance towards Astrid. 

“It makes _me_ nice.” Astrid adds, when they’re far away enough they can’t hear her anymore, looking at Tuff’s retreating back. 

She knows, when the others look at her they see a hard-ass, someone strict and unrelenting and _mean._ She doesn’t mean it, or only sometimes does, but she doesn’t know how they can relax so easily when the fear and routine and jitters has seeped down into her bones. The worry of a war seems to have slipped off everyone’s back as easily as water off a duck but Astrid’s stuck, building weapons and defence plans and screaming at the others when they won’t follow them. They think there’s something wrong with her, and sometimes she thinks if she could be the mellow person she was high on dragon nip they’d complain a little less when she asked them to run drills. 

It only takes Tuff two days to ask again, beseeching as he bums off sandbagging the river bank. Fishlegs’ weather predictions late last night suggest a heavy thunderstorm on the way and they’re all in preparation mode but there’s not even a dark cloud on the horizon, they probably have a day or two. Astrid promised to show him the wild dragon nip patch, maybe even show him which plants to pick in Fishlegs’ garden but she’s been carrying some around in her bindings since he asked. 

“Come on, I’ll show you how to smoke it.” She offers, pulling the bag off and Tuff takes it, grinning. 

“In the forest?” Tuff asks and Astrid feels stupid and brave enough already, skipping out on chores to smoke, that she takes his hand. 

“My hut.” She replies, easy. Tuff’s fingers squeezes her own. When the other’s backs are turned they sneak off. 

Usually when she smokes in her hut she cracks a window but she doesn’t want Hiccup to realise that's where they’re slacking off so it stays shut. Tuff watches her roll the nip with wide eyes, hands on his knees as he sits crossed legged on her bed, holding a candle still as Astrid lights it with a flint before lending down with the nip blunt in her mouth to light it. Tuff watches still, eyes wide as she takes a couple of hits, smoke curling around her like a monstrous nightmare 

“Just, breath it in.” Astrid offers, handing the blunt over and Tuff fumbles it, nearly dropping it before Astrid steadies his hand. “Don’t set my furs alight.” She teases, already relaxed at the situation, her shoulders loose like just _knowing_ what’s going to happen is enough to drain her of tension. 

“Sorry.” Tuff says, flushed. He brings the nip blunt up to his mouth and breathes in far too deeply, too much, and coughs. Astrid perks up for a moment, worried about this asthma thing and breathing difficulties and how much Ruff’s gonna kill her if something happens before realising everything’s fine. 

“Careful,” she cautions, reaching over to take the nip blunt back, bringing it up her mouth again and taking a couple of easy puffs nice and slow as Tuff watches. “Take it easy, it’s all good.” 

“Snotlout said you have to breathe deep.” Tuff frowns, reaching over for the blunt again and Astrid lets him. For a second she wants to take another puff, hold the blunt up to his lips and feel them part against her finger tips. 

“Don’t listen to Snotlout, just do what feels right.” Astrid offers. It’s probably good advice in general. She watches as Tuff takes several easy breaths and then holds the blunt out again for Astrid. 

She debates whether or not to lean closer, press _her_ mouth to Tuff’s fingers but his hand is still shaky so she just takes it, bringing it up to her mouth as she shifts her body closer. Tuff looks at her, grey eyes wide, breath stilted, and Astrid presses their legs together. She wants to ask _was this the point?_ But for all Tuff’s secret scheming and intellect she knows he just wanted to feel a part of something the rest of them spoke about. She wants it to be the point. 

“I don’t feel anything.” He says, stifling the moment and Astrid laughs. 

“Hold on,” she says and feels loose and _nice_ enough already. “It’ll come.” 

They smoke the blunt down to Tuff’s fingers, Astrid’s on his pulse point as she twists his wrist to take a puff. Tuff goes pink, wordless as her lips touch his fingertips. She feels stupid and brave, and after the single coughing incident vindicated enough that Ruff can’t put her six feet under for starting an asthma attack. If anything, Tuff’s breathing seems loose and calm, smile loopy. He says he still feels nothing as he lays, head in her lap, staring at the wood paneling like it holds the secrets of the world and Astrid laughs.   
  


Tuff looks at like her like he’s never heard anything better and that’s know she knows he’s truly as high as a kite. Astrid gives him a noogie until he’s squirming away, laughing too hard himself. 

“You’re right,” Tuff says, between whispering secrets about dragons he knows that sound like an old woman gossiping, “it is nice.”   
“You’re nice.” Astrid replies, sharp, silly. Tuff flushes again and looks away. 

It is nice, feeling like this. 


End file.
